1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recording medium playback apparatus for reading information on a recording medium such as a compact disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
A CD player, as a recording medium playback apparatus, is mounted in a dashboard of a car as a vehicle. The CD player reads out information recorded on a recording medium such as a compact disc (CD for short).
The CD player is required to be miniaturized for mounting in the dashboard. Therefore, the CD player, which includes a main body being mounted in the dashboard and a tray to be freely received in and projected from the main body, is proposed. The main body is formed into box-shape. The tray includes a tray body for placing a CD on a surface thereof to be freely received in and projected from the main body and a playback mechanism being provided with a turntable being mounted in the tray body and an optical pickup.
The playback mechanism is mounted to move freely against the tray body with a damper of an elastic member such as a rubber and a coil spring on the tray body.
The turntable is provided on the tray body to rotate freely. The turntable is driven rotatively by a driving source such as a motor. The turntable has a clamper for clamping a CD to move into a center hole of the CD. The turntable rotates the CD being clamped by the clamper. The optical pickup can move freely in a direction to be close to or apart from the turntable. The optical pickup can read out data recorded on the CD.
In the structure of the CD player, as mentioned above, a CD is mounted on and dismounted from the tray projecting from the main body. Receiving the tray, in which a CD is mounted on, into the main body, the CD player reads data recorded on the CD with the optical pickup.
The CD player, as mentioned above, has a structure in which a tray body includes a playback mechanism for reading out data recorded on a CD. Therefore, the CD player can be miniaturized and low-profiled. Mounting the playback mechanism to move freely with an elastic member such as a damper or a spring on the tray body, if the car vibrates while running, the playback mechanism can securely read out data recorded on the CD.
Objects to be Solved
In a CD player by prior art, as mentioned above, a playback mechanism is mounted to move freely against a tray body with an elastic member. Therefore, when a CD is mounted on a tray projecting from the playback mechanism, or a CD on the tray is dismounted from the tray, the playback mechanism may move against the tray body. In other words, to mount a CD on or dismount from a damper of the playback mechanism, a force opposing to a clamping force of the clamper is required. Therefore, if the playback mechanism can move, operation of mounting a CD on and dismounting from the tray may not be done satisfactorily.
To overcome the above drawback, an object of this invention is to provide a recording medium playback apparatus in which a CD can be mounted on and dismounted from easily.
How to Attain the Object
In order to attain the objects, a recording medium playback apparatus according to this invention has a tray to move freely between a playback position in which the tray is received in a main body to read out data recorded on a recording medium and a mount position in which the tray is projected out of the main body to mount or dismount a recording medium on/from the tray, wherein the tray comprises a tray body, a playback mechanism being mounted to move freely against the tray body for mounting a recording medium thereon and reading out data recorded on the recording medium, and a displacement limiter moving freely between a permissible position in which the playback mechanism is permissible to move against the tray body and a limited position in which the playback mechanism is limited to move against the tray body, whereby the displacement limiter is positioned in the permissible position when the tray is set in the playback position and positioned in the limited position when the tray is set in the mount position.
In the recording medium playback apparatus as mentioned above, the displacement limiter moves between the permissible position and the limited position by interlocking to the movement of the tray into and out of the main body.
The recording medium playback apparatus, as mentioned above, further comprises a retainer moving freely between a retaining position in which the tray is retained in the playback position and a release position in which the tray is made to move freely between the playback position and the mount position, wherein the displacement limiter moves from the permissible position to the limited position by interlocking to the movement of the retainer from the retaining position to the release position.
Furthermore, in the recording medium playback apparatus as mentioned above, the displacement limiter moves the tray toward the mount position when the displacement limiter moves from the permissible position to the limited position.
Furthermore, in the recording medium playback apparatus as mentioned above, the displacement limiter includes an arm portion being mounted rotatably on the tray body and an urging device for urging the arm portion in such a direction that one end of the arm portion enters the playback mechanism, whereby the other end of the arm portion pushes the tray by means of urging force of the urging device to move the tray toward the mount position when the arm portion turns from the permissible position to the limited position.
In the recording medium playback apparatus as mentioned above, a supporter is provided to support near-portion of the one end of the arm portion when the arm portion is set in the playback mechanism.
Furthermore, in the recording medium playback apparatus as mentioned above, the one end of the arm portion is tapered gradually in proportion to a distance to the playback mechanism.
Furthermore, in the recording medium playback apparatus as mentioned above, the playback mechanism has an opening for the one end of the arm portion going therethrough, whereby the opening is formed to have gradually widening in width, in a direction perpendicular to a direction of the arm portion entering the opening, toward an opposite direction of the one end of the arm portion entering the opening.
In the recording medium playback apparatus according to this invention, when the tray is positioned in the mount position, the displacement limiter is positioned in the limited position. Therefore, when the tray is positioned in the mount position, the playback mechanism can not move easily against the tray body.
When the tray is positioned in the playback position, the displacement limiter is positioned in the permissible position. Thereby, when the tray is in the playback position, the playback mechanism can move freely against the tray body. Therefore, even if vibration acts on the recording medium playback apparatus, the playback mechanism can securely read out data recorded on a recording medium.
In the recording medium playback apparatus according to this invention, the displacement limiter moves by interlocking to the movement of the tray so that, when the tray is positioned in the mount position, the displacement limiter is securely positioned in the limited position. Therefore, when the tray is in the mount position, the playback mechanism can not move easily against the tray body.
When the tray is positioned in the playback position, the displacement limiter is positioned in the permissible position. Thereby, when the tray is in the playback position, the playback mechanism becomes securely to be enabled to move freely against the tray body. Therefore, even if vibration acts on the recording medium playback apparatus, the playback mechanism can securely read out data recorded on a recording medium.
In the recording medium playback apparatus according to this invention, the displacement limiter moves from the permissible position to the limited position by interlocking to the movement of the retainer from the retaining position to the release position. Thereby, the playback mechanism becomes to be disabled to move easily against the tray body in proportion to projecting the tray out of the main body. Therefore, when the tray is positioned in the mount position, the playback mechanism can not move more securely against the tray body.
In the recording medium playback apparatus according to this invention, the displacement limiter moves the tray toward the mount position when the displacement limiter moves from the permissible position to the limited position. Thereby, the playback mechanism becomes securely to be disabled to move easily against the tray body in proportion to projecting the tray out of the main body. Therefore, when the tray is positioned in the mount position, the playback mechanism can not move more securely against the tray body.
In the recording medium playback apparatus according to this invention, the displacement limiter includes an arm portion and an urging device for urging the arm portion. The urging device urges the arm portion in a direction of one end of the arm portion entering the playback mechanism. The urging device moves the tray toward the mount position when the arm portion turns from the permissible position to the limited position.
Thereby, the tray is moved securely from the playback position to the mount position by means of urging force of the urging device. In the limited position, the one end of the arm portion is set in the playback mechanism so that the playback mechanism can not move easily against the tray body.
In the permissible position, the one end of the arm portion is out of the playback mechanism. Thereby, the playback mechanism can securely move freely against the tray body in the permissible position. Therefore, the playback mechanism can securely read out data recorded on a recording medium.
In the recording medium playback apparatus according to this invention, the supporter supports near-portion of the one end of the arm portion when the arm portion is set in the playback mechanism. Thereby, in the limited position, the one end of the arm portion is prevented from going out of the playback mechanism. Preferably, the supporter supports the one of the arm portion.
In the recording medium playback apparatus according to this invention, the one end of the arm portion is tapered gradually in proportion to a distance to the playback mechanism. Thereby, the one end of the arm portion can securely go into the playback mechanism.
In the recording medium playback apparatus according to this invention, the width of the opening is gradually widened toward an opposite direction of the one end of the arm portion entering the opening. Thereby, the one end of the arm portion can securely go into the opening.
The above and other objects and features of this invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.